New Lease on Life
by Theony
Summary: Sometimes changes are forced on us. That doesn't mean they're bad. *This is a Merry Men fic*
1. 30 Days Notice

_Disclaimer: Not my world or characters. Just for fun and no profit involved._

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I saw the bright yellow sticky note on my door as soon as I got out of the elevator. I approached cautiously, trying to remember whether I was due for a stalker. It was only a note from Dylan, the manager of my building and just asked me to stop in when I got home. That was unusual but didn't explain the sinking feeling in my stomach.

The day had gone better than usual. I wasn't covered in anything nasty. Unfortunately, the two regulars I had brought in also hadn't earned me much money. I reversed directions without even going into my apartment and went down to Dylan's apartment in the basement instead. When he answered my knock, he looked somber enough to be attending a funeral.

"Hi Steph," he said. I just wanted to hug him. He looked like he needed it but I held back.

"What's going on?" I asked instead.

"Come in," he invited. "Do you want to sit down?"

I perched on his couch while he dug around for a moment on his desk. When he turned back to me, he was holding a file folder. He took a deep breath. "Your lease is up for renewal in December and the building owners don't want to renew. You have 30 days to move out." He offered me a piece of paper as I stared at him in shock.

"What?" I squeaked once I found my voice. "We always renew my lease."

"Renewing is a choice," Dylan replied. "Both you and the owner need to agree to it. This time the owner doesn't want to."

I wanted to ask why but I only had to think about all of the damage my stalkers had done to know. I didn't even think I could quantify the damage to the building or the number of times my work had followed me home and endangered the other tenants who lived here. While I processed that, Dylan sat down beside me on the couch, offering me the folder. I looked through it numbly. It was a copy of my leases, one for each year I had lived in the building. On last years, there was a flag on one of the paragraphs and some sentences highlighted that spelled out how the lease could end. Either party could opt not to renew the lease with 30 days notice in writing. The piece of paper on the top had been a formal letter, telling me what Dylan had. No renewal.

"There's no chance?" I asked finally.

"I'm sorry," Dylan replied. "I tried to change their minds but…" He trailed off, clearly not wanting to enumerate my issues.

"I understand," I responded. "Can I take this?" I asked, pointing towards the folder.

"It's for you," he told me. I headed for the door, clutching it in my hand. "Let me know if you need help packing or moving," Dylan called after me.

I was glad not to see anyone on my way back to my apartment. Keeping my apartment and never needing to move back in with my parents was a point of pride for me. I didn't need their help except for the occasional meal so they didn't have a say in my life choices. Even when I was sort of partway living with Joe, I still had my apartment. It was where I could go back to once things didn't work out. I didn't need a man to provide my home. My job is unconventional but it's enough to support me and it suits my personality. The apartment was my proof of adulthood.

Safely hiding on my own couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I stared at my phone. How could I tell everyone that I was being kicked out? Part of me wanted desperately to press speed dial one. Ranger would do anything to help me feel better and he was great at non-judgemental comfort but he might also try to take over from afar. I missed him a lot. He had been in Miami for 6 months this time and there was a chance that he would be there for several more years. Julie as a teen who was dating frightened him. He wanted to be there to supervise the body guards and make threats to the poor brave high school boys who asked his daughter out. Talking to him didn't make me miss him any less so I avoided calling.

Calling anyone else would just make sure everyone knew sooner than absolutely necessary. Joe and Mom would find out soon enough. Everyone would know soon enough. No need to face that before they cornered me. Instead, I finished my ice cream and began combing the classifieds, hoping I could find a new place and just tell them about the move, make it sound like my choice.

I called a few places that had phone numbers listed but my name alone got me laughed off the phone. They had all read the bombshell bounty hunter newspaper articles. The whole town knew about my disasters. No one who had heard of me wanted me in their building. Eventually, I gave up and curled up into my bed. The only glimmer of hope I had left was that a larger community managed by a company, not a person, wouldn't have heard of me.


	2. Avoiding the Inquisition

_Disclaimer: Not my world or characters. Just for fun and no profit involved._

**A/N - This is most likely a Merry Men fic with a planned HEA. Cupcakes may eventually be harmed.**

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I spent the weekend napping in bed and on my couch. The trip to denial land was wasting time but I was calling it self care to justify it. I deserved to have some time for the news to sink in before being bombarded with opinions from my mother and everyone in the burg. Mom must have had a quiet weekend at home too because I didn't hear from her all weekend. I couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

The ringing of my apartment phone Monday morning woke me up but I didn't bother to get up to answer it. A moment later, my mother's voice screeched through the answering machine.

"Stephanie, this is your mother" Who else would it be? "Mrs. Agnusdei called." Shit. Her daughter, Sharon, was dating Dylan on and off. "What's this I hear about you getting kicked out of your apartment? If you worked at the personal products factory, this wouldn't happen. I expect to hear the details over dinner tonight young lady. I'll make you some pineapple upside down cake." I wasn't sure cake could solve this. I might need a hit of her whiskey.

I pulled the covers over my head but I couldn't go back to sleep. There was a looming deadline ahead. 29 days until I had to be gone. I needed boxes to start packing and a place to go. And the money for an apartment. My bank balance flirted with zero far too often. How was I going to afford first month's rent, last month's rent, and a security deposit? I would probably need a large security deposit too, given my history, so I wouldn't be able to skimp on the skips this month either. I hoped a lot of lowlifes forgot to show up in court. I was going to need it.

As I was getting out of the shower, I heard the sounds of someone moving around in the apartment. I froze absolutely still for a long moment before the distinctive gurgle of my coffee machine cut through my panic. Stalkers and thieves rarely bothered to make coffee so I got dressed and went to investigate.

There was a box of donuts on my kitchen table and Joe was just pouring himself a cup of coffee. He glanced up and saw me but he didn't pour me a cup. Instead he sat at my table and grabbed a donut. "Donati down at the station told me about you looking for a new apartment. That's not necessary," he told me confidently.

"It kind of is, Joe." I replied as I served myself some coffee and mirrored his position at the table with a donut of my own. "I need to be out by the 30th." And wasn't that going to suck? I realized then, looking at the calendar hanging on my wall by the table, that I really had far less time. Unless I wanted to spend Black Friday moving instead of shopping, I needed to find a place and move before Thanksgiving. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was the 27th but if I wanted help moving, it would need to be a weekend so that left me until Friday the 22nd to find a place.

"It's no problem," he responded, oblivious to my thoughts. I could see the visible effort it took to keep his tone calm. He had always had that italian temper but lately, it was aimed at me more frequently. "This will be the push you need to move in with me for good this time. We can get married and have some kids now that this phase of your life is over."

Was that a proposal? I stared at him in shock for a moment before blurting out, "hell no."

"Now, Cupcake…" he began in a falsely placating tone. The jump of the muscle in his jaw gave away his real feelings. I wasn't sure how he could sound so sickeningly sweet with his jaw clenched that tightly.

"No Joe," I told him. "I am not moving in with you."

"Where will you go?" He pressed. "Do you really want to move back in with your parents to share a bathroom with your dad and grandma?"

"I'll figure something out," I insisted, thinking of my potential last resort. Ranger wasn't in Trenton but there was still a 7th floor apartment at Haywood. I couldn't imagine any of the merry men moving into his place, unless he really wasn't planning to come back.

"If you don't say yes now, don't expect to panic and decide to move in with me temporarily on the 29th. It's either yes forever or no." I could see in his face that he expected me to cave in. I admit, it would be safe if he could keep his temper in check. The unknown of what could happen if I refused swamped me briefly with fear. I held his eyes and could see the triumph in his. He knew that I would be too afraid to say no. Did I want to be a burg housewife or did I want to be wonder woman? I wondered if wonder woman was ever quite this terrified of what might happen but I found the inner strength to shake my head from side to side.

"No Joe. No for always."

For a moment, he just stared at me. Then he shoved his chair back and stomped out of the apartment. "You'll regret that cupcake," he promised in a dark voice right before he slammed the door hard enough to rattle the walls. I sighed and finished my coffee but the donut had lost it's appeal.

I took the rest of the box to the bonds office, holding the sugary bribes hostage until Connie handed over the single file in my range. Then I made my escape while she and Lula were distracted arguing over the donuts. I looked at the file in the car and I was disappointed.

Eula the bag lady was easy to bring in. I found her on a bench in the park, huddled in layers of dirty clothes. I gingerly picked a few dead leaves from her clothing as I convinced her to come with me to be rebonded. It wasn't that difficult. She was looking forward to a soft bed and a hot meal and told me not to have anyone rush to get her rebonded.

I was mildly harassed at the station. It seems everyone there had already heard about my fight with Joe that morning. It didn't bode well for what dinner at my parent's house would be like so I decided to pick up a load of boxes and start packing instead. I had a lot that I wouldn't miss if it were in boxes for a while. I wondered if I should be donating all of that crap or just dropping it in the dumpster instead of packing it up.


	3. Day Eight

_Disclaimer: Not my world or characters. Just for fun and no profit involved._

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I trudged out of the apartment complex office. It was the third place that had rejected my application and the last one that had been within my budget and not on stark street. The last one had taken all of my information and said they would call me with the verdict but the call had just said that I had been denied based on my credit. This place hadn't even let me get that far. Like the first, just one look at my application showed them that my source of income was unstable and based on their rules, that was unacceptable. Even though my yearly amount averaged out over their minimum salary, it wasn't consistent. The way things had been going the last few days, I would be stuck renting a room by the week over a strip club on Stark Street.

I stopped in at the Bond's office and managed to time it for when Lula was at lunch. Earlier in the week, she had tried to commiserate with me about not having a place to go. I think she was trying to make me feel better but I just couldn't take any more horror stories about how much worse things could get. I had family and Ranger. Even without Morelli, I wouldn't end up as a ho on stark street.

"Anything for me?" I asked Connie.

She tapped the file on top of a pile on her desk with one long nail. "Ranger would flay me for giving you this one," she told me. "But he's not here and I know that you need the money. Be careful, okay?"

I promised her that I would and escaped to my car with the file, just in time to wave to Lula as she pulled up and I left. I stopped for gas and checked out the file. Tommy Pichler's bond was just shy of the Rangeman limit so technically mine but he was violent so Ranger would have usually taken him to keep me from trying. Tommy was a good burg boy who had been booked on multiple cases of assault after a domestic disturbance. His wife actually pressed charges this time. Some running around and phone calls occupied a portion of my afternoon. The skip hadn't shown up for work and his wife said she hadn't seen him since he got out on bail. I believed her because if she had seen him, she would have called the cops or ended up dead. Tommy was extremely pissed at her for deciding she didn't want to be his punching bag anymore.

A call to Mary Lou got me the gossip that he was still making his regular Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night visits to his girlfriend. I decided to try staking out the skips girlfriend's house tomorrow night and made a quick trip into the pet store for some food for Rex. Bobby and a Merry Man I didn't recognize at first glance were waiting for me at my car when I came out of the pet store. Their Rangeman issue black SUV parked beside my beat up Talon.

"Can you do a distraction for us tonight, Stephanie?" Bobby asked.

"No problem," I agreed, thinking of how useful the extra money would be just now. Maybe someone could be convinced to rent to me if I could throw a large enough security deposit at them.

"Great. I'll be there to get you around 9, okay?" Bobby asked. I agreed and we went our separate ways.

I was standing in my underwear, bra, and stockings when I heard the faint scrape of my locks being picked. I threw on my robe and brought two dresses out to the living room. Bobby and Zero were there, staring at the partially packed boxes everywhere. When their eyes focused on me, I held up the two dress selections.

"Slutty or Sluttier?" I asked them.

"Just slutty should do fine," Zero told me.

"Bomber, what's going on?" Bobby asked, looking from me to the boxes and back.

I felt myself turn red. "I need to get dressed. Look in the file folder on the kitchen table," I suggested before fleeing back to my bedroom. When I came out, they were each holding a file folder.

"This guy's dangerous, Stephanie," Zero told me, obviously holding the skip file. "Let us know when you're going after him. Someone will help."

"I was going to stake out his girlfriend's house tomorrow night," I explained.

"I have off," Zero replied. "I'll meet you here and tag along. What time?"

"Uh...around 8?"

"Sure."

Bobby looked up from the file he was holding when we went silent. "Does Ranger know about this?"

"No," I admitted.

"I'd like to have the Rangeman lawyers take a look at it," Bobby told me. "We sometimes have similar issues with our personal apartments."

"What?" I felt stupid.

"Not all of the guys live on site at Haywood full time," Bobby explained. "Most of them have personal apartments or houses in addition to or instead of an efficiency at Haywood and they just bunk in the basement bunkrooms when they're on call. Sometimes shit follows us home and we have trouble with our leases."

I sniffled and studied the ceiling. If I cried, my makeup would be a mess. Bobby was treating this like it wasn't a big deal. My world had been falling apart. People had been treating me like a leper, with pity but not wanting to get dirty by helping me. And he was so calm and willing to help that every emotion I had been trying to avoid tried to rush to the surface as tears. In two strides, Bobby crossed the kitchen to me and wrapped me in a hug.

"We'll figure something out, okay?" Zero told me, laying a hand on my shoulder. I sniffled and nodded against Bobby's chest.

"Still willing to do the distraction?" Bobby asked me. I nodded again, placed the wire, and we headed out.


End file.
